Verified on a 59.8, 62.7 HRC Block initially, and a 48.6 HRC Block mid-testing due to absurd readings. Absurd readings were correct.
Dark Oath Blades “15N20/1084” Dam 47.4 HRC
Tac Knives Bulldog M390 60.9 HRC
MBK Sabertooth CPM-S90V 59.5 HRC
Maxace Medusa CPM-Magnacut 58.5 HRC
Reate EXO Elmax 59.1 HRC
Kizer Cormorant CPM-S35Vn 59.3 HRC
Kansept Korvid M+ Damascus 57.2 HRC
The Maxace finish is a few microns thick and does not effect the readings, Maxace actually advertises extremely low hardness ranges with the idea that “our customers aren’t going to actually use these, why should we care?” According to the owner.
The first knife I asked the maker if it was differentially treated, and he said no. He then told me it is a cheap Pakistani damascus he purchased (see last pic for conversation). This is, by far, the worst batch of blades I have ever been sent. Yes my machine is working properly, I double verified several times throughout this testing session. No, damascus being etched does not have an effect on the readings.
If you are interested in sending me a blade, I’m still at $10/blade+shipping both ways.
If we can get some factual evidence as to the clad/jacket layer, please let me know. I want the testing to be accurate, and do not mind being completely incorrect on this matter. Apologies if I am wrong!
by 679696
5 Comments
Someone shoot me some proof of the san mai/clad/jacketed layer please. I have no qualms correcting myself if I am wrong. However, going off of visuals alone is not enough for me. Hope you guys all understand my position on this!
Edit: I have the exact same knife being sent my way for microhardness testing. The blade I tested today, the owner does want it back (understandably) so I cannot chop it up and run microhardness on it. I understand the next blade is an entirely different blade and correlation is not fair to make on it. But we will test it regardless.
holy moly lmao
From what little I information I can find, it seems the Sentinel uses 9Cr18MoV and 10Cr15CoMoV stacked together for this specific model, the Vision FG by them uses a 10Cr15CoMov core with 5Cr15Mov and 316 stainless (an austenitic stainless that doesn’t harden by heat treatment) for that model, so I’d say it’s unlikely that this blade is San Mai construction:
https://tacticalreviews.co.uk/?p=13990
Regardless of that, once steels are stacked together for forge welding and brought to temperatures where they actually bond together, carbon diffusion happens, basically making all 3 (or however many steels) a single composite alloy because of how small carbon is, it’s an interstitial atom, so it will freely move between iron atoms and equalize during forge welding and heat treatment, effectively making the different steels very similar in hardness to each other. Larrin Thomas explains it the best:
The only way to really make the core retain its original properties and potentially stay a significant amount harder than the outer layers would be to use a layer of pure nickel in between the core steel and outer layers, this acts as a barrier as carbon has low solubility in nickel. Even an austenitic stainless like 316 will pick up carbon during the forging process, which will typically lead to chromium rich carbides forming inside the austenitic stainless steel(which end up being relatively large).
Whatever happened, it still shouldn’t have been this soft. I’m hesitant to say what specifically, but it shouldn’t have tested as concerningly low as it did.
From u/Skylark427
https://preview.redd.it/cy2m370ar0tg1.jpeg?width=1162&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7fb35ff79bb66087aa58236e6a22e6a4cd4e3b2
From Larrin Thomas:
OK, the comment on Maxace advertising low ranges made me go look up what they DO advertise Magnacut at.
These are the following knives I found currently on their site in Magnacut:
* Nebula – advertised as 61-63
* OM35 – advertised as 60-62
Looking back at some older models at retailer sites, we can also find:
* Big Fella – advertised as 60-63
* Raptor – advertised as 60
* Orion – advertised as 63
So yeah, none of those are particularly high, but none of them are NEARLY as bad as 58.5 either. So I am absolutely not prepared to give Maxace a pass here just because they never claimed their numbers are high. Definitely interested to see more of those tested.